


Energon Core

by Exactlywhat



Series: TF/UT Crossover [7]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One, Undertale (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 09:45:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13005084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Exactlywhat/pseuds/Exactlywhat
Summary: Gaster and Wheeljack get to work





	Energon Core

ENERGON CORE

 

The morning after Gaster’s “welcome home” party, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, and Jazz were cleaning up when Gaster walked in. “Hey, Sideswipe. Just out of curiosity, how exactly do you make energon?”

 

Sideswipe paused in wiping down a table and cocked his head to the side. “How so? There are a few different ways to make it. Long story short, it’s electricity and energy condensed into liquid form. Different energies give different energons.”

 

“Hmm.” Gaster frowned thoughtfully, one hand rising to his jaw. “Do you think you’d be able to convert Magical energy into energon?”

 

Sideswipe shrugged. “I don’t know why not. I mean, that’d be something really to talk to Wheeljack about. He’s the one who really converted the energon, I just refine it and make high-grade out of it. Why do you ask?”

 

“Because I have a machine that converts heat from the core of an inactive volcano into enough Magical energy to power and entire kingdom’s houses, and it’s currently not in use.”

 

Sunstreaker, across the room, chimed in. “I’d definitely talk to Wheeljack if I were you. We’ve got a geothermal energon generator going now, but who knows? Yours might be more efficient.”

 

Gaster snorted a little at that. “The CORE is the most efficient power converter on earth, possibly in the whole galaxy. I made it.”

 

Sideswipe and Jazz laughed at that. “Well,” the saboteur said, “go talk to our resident scientist.”

 

Gaster nodded and strode back out of the room. 

 

Not long after, he was walking into Wheeljack’s lab. 

 

“Hello, Gaster,” the Autobot greeted, “how are you today?”

 

“Quite excited, actually,” Gaster replied, nodding a greeting of his own. “Depending on your answer, I could be about to take on my biggest project since reentering reality.”

 

“Ooh,” Wheeljack exclaimed, spinning around on his stool. “That sounds exciting. So, what’s the question I’m answering?”

 

From his inventory, Gaster pulled a bottle of a glowing white liquid. “This is full of concentrated Magic energy. Do you think you can convert it into energon?”

 

Wheeljack delicately took the small vial between his fingers and ran a few scans on it. “Hm. It’s already almost energon. Very, very close... Yes, I believe I could. Potentially, with the right equipment and process... I’m pretty confident I could.” 

 

Gaster gave a sharp, decisive nod. “Good. If you can, I can probably repurpose the CORE and get you a near limitless supply of energon.”

 

The Autobot eyed the monster. “That would be wonderful. Our geothermal converter works well, but no one is very fond of the taste of the energon it produces. Depending on what comes out of a magic-to-energon conversion... Though, I must ask, what is the CORE?”

 

“Only just my second-greatest creation in the world, a geothermal energy to Magical energy converter, built in the magma pools beneath Mt. Ebott.” Gaster paused a little. “It used to power the monster kingdom. But… Since monsters moved out of the Underground, it currently has no use.”

 

Wheeljack nodded. “So, geothermal to Magic to energon. I wonder if the extra conversion would be beneficial, or detrimental to the overall amount of energon produced or the taste?”

 

Gaster just shrugged, grinning. “That’s what we’re going to find out!”

 

~o0o~

 

The first conversion of Magic to energon was a success. The resulting energon was a pale, fluorescent pink color and had a remarkably sweet taste. Unfortunately, the converter only produced one cube before it exploded magnificently, in part due to the unnatural combustible traits of both Magic and energon. 

 

The explosion, however, did not discourage either of the scientists. For one, they were used to such things occurring. For another, they had achieved some level of success, and on the first try, too! 

 

Sideswipe had insisted on being there, claiming that as the primary maker of high-grade and energon-candies, he had a right to see what was happening and give his input (at this point, mostly just, “That tasted good!” and “That was a pretty boom!”).

 

The second prototype was significantly less explosive, but also quite inefficient, and the Magic-to-energy ratio was simply too unbalanced for it to work. Not to mention it produced a rather bland tasting energon, which no one wanted. 

 

The third prototype worked better, and made a blueish tinged energon that Sideswipe described as “spicy”. It didn’t explode, but after making a couple batches of energon, something in it fizzled and popped and it stopped working. A post-mortem examination of it proved that a few circuits had blown.

 

The fourth prototype was more of a joke than anything else, just a bunch of spare parts thrown together to intentionally cause a cool explosion after creating one energon cube in a very inefficient manner. But, as the prototype really wasn’t intended to work well in the first place, it served it’s purpose through a big, colorful boom. 

 

The fifth was more successful than the previous, producing a mass amount of turquoise energon. That energon, however “fizzy” Sideswipe described it, had an incredibly low energy level, though, and so while the design was set aside to be used for low-grade energon, it was not going to be viable as regular energon production.

 

Not much in the way of progress happened with the sixth attempt, most notably, it ended with Gaster laughing maniacally amid a pile of flaming wreckage while Wheeljack looked on, pleased with by the scale of destruction. But, other than that, it was a failure. 

 

Seven ended in a trickle of grayish goopy stuff that even Sideswipe was scared to try. That ended up being thrown back into the magma from whence it came. 

 

The eighth attempt spat out sparks, no liquid of any sort being produced. Wheeljack contemplated the jumble of parts. “I think we’re going in the wrong direction. Things just keep getting worse.”

 

Gaster shrugged a little. “Hey, I mean, it took me two decades to make the CORE, and we’ve only been working on this for a few weeks now. But, you are right that the more successful attempts were the earlier ones… perhaps we should return to modify those.” The Royal Scientist paused, looking again at the sparking machine. “... Well, no more use for this, I suppose. Wanna blow it up?”

 

Wheeljack grinned behind his blastmask and his helmfins flashed excitedly. “How do you wanna do it? I can cross those two wires there or override the power control or short out that section there,” he said, motioning wildly. 

 

“Oh, I was thinking we should just overcharge the rune circuits. That always causes some exciting results.”

 

“Hm. Well, the power control override would take a minute to trigger an explosion anyways... how about I start that and you do the rune circuits at the same time and we make it go via two ways at once?”

 

Gaster thought that over for a second. “... Can’t say I’ve ever had a combined electric-rune explosion- at least not one I’ve intentionally caused. Let’s do it!” And, grinning just a little bit insanely, he reached for the main access panel of the machine. 

 

Wheeljack watched excitedly as the monster overrode the power control module and then proceeded to slap his palm against one of the main rune circuits, hands already sparking with his purple Magic. The whole contraption began to hum violently with energy, and the Autobot inventor took a step back. “Gaster, maybe you should get ba-”

 

_**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM** _

 

~o0o~

 

“Wheeljack, you pit-forsaken glitch, what have I told you about exploding things around more breakable beings!”

 

The inventor groaned as he came online to the familiar voice of Ratchet. “Not to do it. But Gaster isn’t exactly breakable.”

 

“ _Pffft,_ ‘not exactly breakable’?” Said monster cut in. “I’m freakin’ _invincible_!”

 

Ratchet growled. “You’re invincible, are you? Then why did you come limping in here half broken and charred like a human barbecue gone wrong?”

 

Gaster snorted a little. “Okay, granted, the explosion was enough to blow a bit of me to pieces, but I’m literally made out of Void goop. It doesn’t actually _hurt_ me, and it’s not like the damage can’t be repaired in a matter of seconds!” Gaster wiggled his limbs as if by example. “See?! Perfectly fine!”

 

Wheeljack sat up slowly, waiting to see if Ratchet would push him back down. His diagnostics indicated that the concussive blast had knocked him unconscious, and his plating was a little scorched, but not much more than that. The medic let him sit, though watched him critically, waiting to see any sign that the inventor was in worse condition than his medical scans indicated. He seemed okay. 

 

Which was Ratchet’s cue to really get into it, now that he wasn’t worried about either of his patients. “You pitslagged bolt-helm, what are you fragging doing detonating energy charged machines in a frelling magma filled _cave_ , you bit-brained bot! You deserve antroids eating your servos! You act like your two-bit processor has been corroded by Cosmic Rust!”

 

Wheeljack winced. “That’s mean,” he muttered.

 

“Grow up, sparkling,” Ratchet snarked. “When are you fragging going to learn to stop slagging yourself up?”

 

The inventor shrugged, a smile gleaming in his optics. “When I don’t have you to fix me anymore?”

 

Ratchet groaned and threw up his hands. “I give up, you and your scraplet-infested processor...”

 

“Hey!” Gaster interjected, deciding it was time he gave his bit. “ _I_ was the one who blew up the fragging thing! I mean, granted, he was encouraging me, but still! He said I should step back!”

 

Right about then, the medbay door slid open and Alphys came in, looking like she was about to say something, but on seeing the trio of assemble beings, hesitated. “Err—… R-Ratchet, you c-called me? O-or is this a b-bad time…? I c-can come back later!”

 

“No, no, Alphys, now is fine. Wheeljack was just getting a lecture on how he’s stupid.”

 

“Hey!”

 

“You keep exploding things and getting injured. Sometimes deliberately. That, in my book, is what I call _fragging stupid_!”

 

“Wait a second! I just established, like, a minute ago that _I_ blew it up, not Wheeljack!”

 

“He was there; that’s good enough for me to blame him.”

 

Wheeljack snickered. “My reputation is better than I thought.”

 

Gaster looked unconvinced. “That’s a pretty stupid reason. He only encouraged me a little, _and_ he _did_ try to get me to step back beforehand. And besides, what about _my_ reputation? I’m the one who blew it up!”

 

Wheeljack kicked his feet like a little kid in a big chair as he sat on the side of the medical berth. “Hey, Gaster,” he said before Ratchet had a chance to reply, “don’t worry about it. It’s his way of saying he cares.” The mech jumped off the berth and nodded to Ratchet. “Thanks, Ratch’.”

 

The medic _harumph_ ed and turned to look at the small saurian still standing sheepishly by the door. “Well, Alphys? Are you coming in, or not?”

 

Alphys let out a small embarrassed squeak and hurried forward as Gaster followed Wheeljack out, complaining that he had had to chew out far too many _slagging interns_ for blowing up his stuff to be okay with blame being put on the wrong shoulders, not to mention _he was the one who blew it up and he wanted credit, dangit!_ Wheeljack just laughed at him and told him not to worry, after Ratchet realized he wasn’t really breakable, the blame would be on him soon enough. 

 

With that, Ratchet turned to fiddle with a medical scanner standing against the wall at the head of one of the berths. “Well, Alphys, you said you would be willing to help me get some of this slag working again. What do you think you can do?”

 

Alphys stared at the machine for a moment, walked closer, then looked up. “I... m-might need a lift...” she said hesitantly.

 

Ratchet offered her a hand, palm up, and the small saurian climbed on. He lifted her upward. “Where do you need to look?”

 

“I-is there a... a control panel? A f-fuse box?”

 

“Here, and here,” the medic pointed with his other hand. 

 

“There f-first.”

 

The hand was lifted to the level of the control panel, and Ratchet popped the cover. A tangle of wires sat underneath, connected to a mess of switches, buttons, and toggles mounted to the side of the opening. 

 

“Oh d-dear,” Alphys muttered. “T-this is a m-mess...”

 

“I know. A... medic back on Cybertron custom built this thing.”

 

“Wh-what purpose does it s-serve?”

 

The medic sighed. “It’s a spark scanner. Reads the frequency of a mech’s spark, reads the energy output... Or it would, anyways, if it worked.”

 

Alphys nodded and leaned forward, ducking her small head inside the cavernous (for her) space. “Hmm... I th-think I might h-have found the p-problem...”

 

~o0o~

 

It had been weeks. Maybe even a month- Gaster wasn’t sure, keeping track of time was a little difficult when the vast majority of yourself existed only outside it- but a long time they had been working on this new prototype. 

 

“Alright….!” Gaster said, pulling himself out of the small maintenance hatch and screwing the cover back on. “Looks like everything’s in order!” Then he stood up, gave the machine a kick for good luck (or possibly threatening the inanimate object, should it not work), and turned to Wheeljack. “Let’s start it up!”

 

Wheeljack grinned and nodded. “Sounds great! I hope this one works. I, for one, am ready to have some energon that doesn’t taste so bland... I have to admit, energon production is not my strong suit,” the inventor said as he remotely activated the machine. 

 

The machine hummed to life, and both scientists watched it in anticipation. For a good five minutes, it seemed as if it were working. Then there was a _POP_ and some sparks, and it shut down, black smoke rising off it. 

 

“ _AGH._ ” Gaster let out a frustrated shout, coming over to kick the machine again, hands gesturing wildly. “ _NO,_ YOU SLAGGING PILE OF SCRAP. YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO WORK!” Repeatedly, half heartedly kicking the machine, his furious profanities slipped into another language entirely as he proceeded to curse the machine in his native tongue. 

 

Wheeljack laughed. “I think we’re actually okay this time,” he said, bending down to look at the machine. “Looks like I might have just used the wrong fuse.” Fingers transforming into micro-grabbers, the Autobot pulled a small piece of melted plastic and scorched metal from a panel on the back of the machine. “Yep. Guess I shoulda used a hundred-amp fuse, not a fifty.”

 

Gaster gave the mech an incredulous look. “Well you coulda told me that _before_ I went and broke my toes on the fragging thing!”

 

“You’re the one who keeps saying you’re ‘void goop.’ Goop doesn’t have toes.” 

 

Gaster just glared at him as he yanked off his shoe and sock to reveal definitely very skeletal toes. “ _I. Have. Toes!_ ”

 

Wheeljack laughed. “Well, let me replace this thing and let’s see if it works.” A fuse was produced from his subspace and his micro-grabbers inserted it into the slot. Again, he remote-activated the converter. It started to hum, and from the spout on the front, energon, bluish-green and glowing, started to drip, then trickle in a fine stream.

 

“Yes!” Wheeljack shouted, and pumped his fist in the air. “It hasn’t exploded yet!”

 

Mildly skeptical and still slightly annoyed about his foot, Gaster stuck a finger in the produced liquid, and from there, stuck his finger in his mouth. “... Tastes alright to me. Wanna call Sideswipe?”

 

Wheeljack shrugged. “No need, really. I’m sure it’s not poisonous, so I’ll try it.” he picked up the cube and took a sip, then stuck the half-full cube back under the stream of energon. “Tastes pretty good to me. Kinda... sweet, but spicy? It’ll be nice to add a little bit of variety to our daily fare.”

 

Gaster chuckled a little. “Alright, then. Next thing to do is build this, but bigger, and connect it to the CORE.”

 

Wheeljack grinned. “Awesome.”

 

~o0o~

 

Over the course of the next two weeks in which the mech and monster built their machine, it became widely known what they were doing. 

 

Mechs came to the Underground to sample the energon being produced from the little machine while they were constructing the larger one. Everyone agreed it was good. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker took a small amount to make high-grade out of it. Once the machine was made and producing large amounts, a new dispenser was added in the Autobot commissary. 

 

Wheeljack and Gaster met a few weeks after everything had been completed back in the Underground and surveyed their work. 

 

“Well,” Wheeljack started a he sipped on a fresh cube of energon, “think we could take this and modify it to make a few more flavors? The stuff converted from Magic seems more versatile than anything else... Most other kinds of energon are just how they are and that’s that. We’ve gotten multiple different flavors out of this already... wanna give it a go?”

 

Gaster grinned. “Sure. Why not?”


End file.
